Category Archives: Fashion Show

What does the SS and AW in SS18 and AW18 stand for within the world of fashion?

Answer: SS18 stands for the Spring Summer fashion season in the year 2018. The AW18 stands for the Autumn Winter season in 2018! The SS18 shows are held in the Autumn of 2017, and the AW18 shows are in the Feb/March of 2018

There are also two popular hashtags to be found on Twitter (and other social networks): #ss18 and #aw18 – they will be busy at the time of the shows, UK busy time is London Fashion Week (AW17) – Thursday 16th – Tuesday 21st February 2017. London Fashion Week (SS18) 15th – 19th September 2017.

My fashion and hairstyle predictions are more general and not really seasonal! See my SS18 and AW18 fashion predictions: Fashion Trends & Hair Styles – Predictions – New and Old and my most recent at time of writing. I usually post my latest trends and fashion predictions in December, however, yeah, I’m usually late!

So, there you are SS18 and AW18 equals the fashion seasons: Spring Summer 2018, and Autumn Winter 2018!

What does the SS and AW in SS17 and AW17 stand for within the world of fashion?

Answer: SS17 stands for the Spring Summer fashion season in the year 2017. The AW17 stands for the Autumn Winter season in 2017! The SS17 shows are held in the Autumn of 2016, and the AW17 shows are in the Feb/March of 2017

There are also two popular hashtags to be found on Twitter (and other social networks): #ss17 and #aw17 – they will be busy at the time of the shows, UK busy time is London Fashion Week (AW16) – Friday 19th – Tuesday 23rd February 2016. London Fashion Week (SS17) 16th – 20th September 2016.

My fashion and hairstyle predictions are more general and not really seasonal! See my SS17 and AW17 fashion predictions: Fashion Trends & Hair Styles – Predictions – New and Old and my most recent at time of writing. I usually post my latest trends and fashion predictions in December, however, yeah, I’m usually late!

So, there you are SS17 and AW17 equals the fashion seasons: Spring Summer 2017, and Autumn Winter 2017!

I’ve got to say that I was looking forward to this weeks #HairHour – a Q&A with @SydHayesHair on session hairdressing. However, I was sort of gravely disappointed because Syd Hayes didn’t follow the normal Twitter chat convention of using the bloody #HashTag! In the end I had to poke around for Syd’s insightful and razor-sharp answers.

Twitter chats are usually far too frenetic to miss out the hashtags: use a tool like ‏tweetchat.com or ‏tchat.io, they make it much easier to follow and participate, and they automatically include the hashtag at the end, so you won’t forget.

When you use the hashtag everyone can enjoy your wonderful tweet and at the same time you are helping to promote ‏#HairHour – Spread The Love.

(BTW, that wasn’t a criticism aimed at Syd, just a general comment for anyone on #HairHour!)

Anyway, I thought I would gather the questions here and write My answers! If you want to read Syd Hayes’ answer, just click on the Tweet!

Q1, @SydHayesHair With the amount of stylists interested in branching into session work, what are your must haves to make it? #hairhour

Q1: With the amount of stylists interested in branching into session work, what are your must haves to make it?

Talent is number one, fortitude and commitment follow close behind. And even though You are solely responsible for the hair, the ability to work within a creative team, and a bloody thick skin – you are going to get criticism; session hairdressing isn’t all fun. Yeah, it is!

Q2: What is it about session work that inspired you to pursue it as a career?

I’d been on very many sessions with Robert Lobetta as his ‏Junior at Ricci Burns – getting out of the salon was vital for my sanity. I must also mention Leon Hammé, whom I found extremely inspirational. Session hairdressing seemed a natural progression.

Q3, @SydHayesHair Being a salon director how do you how do you manage balancing your session and salon work? #hairhour

Q6: Where do you see hair trends going this upcoming season?

My styles predictions for 2015 posted on 18 January 2015 say: Finely highlighted with natural glossy highlights and lowlights mainly Blonde. Short bobs with a slightly 1980s to 1990s coupe sauvage-esque, dishevelled look that have a geometric precision that is out of place in today’s world. I was very happy with this prediction as it suits my style of hairdressing: a flowing precisionist hair-cutting technique! Precision cut short fringes.

Yes John that’s Me being presented to Princess Margaret at The Silk Commission fashion show in Edinburgh; it was just before Princess Diana’s wedding in 1981 (May I think) – David and Elizabeth Emanuel were showing 3 silk taffeta wedding dresses! You may be able to detect that my eyes are vampire-like, my make-up is by Richard Sharah.

Actually it wasn’t a fashion show that I particularly enjoyed, it was more like an extravagant, over ostentatious wedding where the bride’s mother was a cross between Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge in Keeping Up Appearances) and Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders in Ab Fab) – but maybe that’s because I got pissed halfway through?

The fashion show itself was a charity event organised, I think, by The Silk Commission (a now defunct organisation promoting silk in fashion) and held at the stunning Hopetoun House, South Queensferry, Edinburgh. Princess Margaret was in attendance, and it was she, I assume, who’d sent the lovies into a tizzy.

There was more pressure however; the fashion show was held a few weeks before the royal wedding (which took place on Wed 29 July 1981), and David and Elizabeth Emanuel were there gently teasing us with three silk taffeta wedding dresses – more excitement and speculation among the pseudo-glitterati – ivory silk, pure taffeta, antique lace, thousands of pearls and sequins and a shed load of train, didn’t really pull onto the platform!

The hair for the fashion show went well, it was typical 1980s big hair, glamorous, avant-garde and slightly Gothic chignons. The make-up artist was the intriguing and funny Richard Sharah; weirdly, I cut his hair in the afternoon before the show, and he did My vampire like make-up!

The main event was in the evening. Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire blasted out, I stood at the entrance to the runway, checking the models before they walked out – almost everyone else tried to peek through a minuscule hole in the curtain! One canny eyed observer claimed to spot Princess Margaret refilling her glass from a gin bottle hidden in her bag!

After the fashion show all of the combatants were presented to the wonderful Princess Margaret – hence the photograph – then we retreated to a Summer Ball in the main house (the fashion show was in a wing). Plenty of booze and grub.

It was the end of the evening and the taxi was late, I’d been standing outside on the drive and I’d decided to go back in. Walking up the stone steps that form a grand and impressive main entrance to Hopetoun House, I looked up and saw Reggie standing towards the top. He rocked backwards and forwards almost imperceptibly, and he fixed his eyes on me.

The man was a well-known television personality and alcoholic; for years he’d been lampooned in the media with nicknames like: Reginald Beaujolais, Reginald Boozalot and Boozy Bosie. But I’d always liked his rakish look. At the time (1981) Reggie was ‏Rector of the University of Glasgow which is why, I assume, he was there.

As I ascended the stone stairs Reggie, with his eyes firmly fixed on mine, fell forward. I rushed up and managed to grab him by the front of his dinner jacket, and sort of pull him to the side, which stopped us both falling down to a gay looking death! I just left him laying on the step and went back in.

When I came out a little later, Reggie was gone, and so was I. And when I got in the taxi I said to the driver, “Reginald Bosanquet, News at Ten, don’t know where, don’t know when!”

That Telegraph colour supplement hung around for ages until it finally got drowned in a house move! On seeing the cover again I was, for some unknown reason, instantly transported back to a Biba fashion show (1974/5 not sure of the exact date)!

Biba was an imposing building on Kensington High Street, it’d been Derry and Toms department store. The fashion show was for Missoni, showing Italian knitwear, held in the roof garden restaurant. One of the more effervescent models did the can-can, but forgot to put her knickers on; which brought the house down – the louder they screamed, the higher her kicks!

I knew one of the models, and between shows we took our drinks out on to the roof garden. But quite frankly, the shop was in massive decline and it looked very sorry for itself – It was Biba’s last fashion show.

I suppose the Telegraph cover has a Biba-esque feel?

Must say I love Liz’s brilliant blog: ‏Get Some Vintage-a-Peel – Very evocative for me, especially as I’ve worked with most of the models – I got to the point where I half expected to see some of my early work …no such luck! Oh hang on, Marianne Faithfull :-) xXx

A creative Hairdresser is required for a fashion show to be held at the South Bank on Sunday 27th September 2015. Unfortunately, they’ll be unable to pay! The organisers are looking for a Volunteer Hairdresser.

Yeah, look, I’m not okay with pay-to-play either; and I’m fully aware of the Twitter hashtag #NoFreeWork. But this fashion show is all about raising awareness to prove a broken man can succeed with a helping hand! And that broken man is: David Tovey @DavidTovey1975.

Let me tell you a little bit about David John Tovey:
He’s an Artist. For many years he was a successful businessman after leaving the British army. In 2011 he had a stroke and this was the start of a long battle with bad health and rotten luck. He is now on the mend, and helping others through charitable works. Please read his amazing story featured the Independent: David Tovey has weathered cancer, cardiac arrest, HIV and homelessness – and he’s only 39.

This fashion show really is a wonderful opportunity for a young hairdresser to gain real experience and build a portfolio of work – think of it as a test session (which are never paid). Lucy Cates is one of the named models.

I don’t know the absolute full details, you need to contact @DavidTovey1975 for those, but I can tell you the location of the event is the South Bank. It starts from the Millennium Eye and works its way around towards the British Film Institute and then back again via the main road. The actual show kicks off around 1600, and will probably go on for 45 minutes.